Rolling's Ex-wife Says He Never Spoke Of Abuse By Dad

GAINESVILLE — The woman of Danny Rolling's dreams appeared for 75 minutes on Friday, cast doubt on his honesty and then vanished like so many women in his life.

Ex-wife O'Mather Lummus, whom Rolling has blamed for much of his troubled life, walked into Alachua Circuit Court to face the man she had not seen in 17 years. Except to identify him, she avoided eye contact.

Lummus, 38, of Alexandria, La., was summoned by prosecutors as a rebuttal witness for the death penalty hearing of Rolling, 39, who has pleaded guilty to killing five Gainesville college students in August 1990. Testimony will continue next week.

Family members and acquaintances have said Rolling's life slid into crime and a series of failed relationships after his divorce from Lummus, a petite brunette. Four of Rolling's victims were petite brunettes.

A defense psychologist testified this week that Rolling said he raped and decapitated victim Christa Hoyt after peeking into her window and noticing the resemblance to his former wife.

Lummus testified on Thursday that during her marriage to Rolling from 1974 to 1977, he never spoke of abuse by his father, demonic visions or nightmares. That contradicted testimony of Rolling's mother, his aunt and defense mental health experts who said Rolling suffered at the hand of his father, who was a Shreveport, La., police lieutenant.

Chief Assistant Public Defender Johnny Kearns has argued that Rolling was mentally ill during the Gainesville killings, much of it attributable to childhood abuse.

But State Attorney Rod Smith says the image of Rolling's disciplinarian father has been exaggerated by Rolling and family members.

The soft-spoken Lummus told Smith she met Rolling at a Pentecostal church in Shreveport and married him in September 1974 when both were 19. She said Rolling was a loving husband who had a normal relationship with his father, James Rolling.

Lummus testified that she never saw any violence or arguments between her husband and the elder Rolling.